Listen.Speak.Connect

Sharing Mrs. Speechie P's favorite Do’s and Don’ts for encouraging spoken language at home!

She says that *The Don’ts are okay to do every now and then, just try to avoid them as much as you can while also trying to do more of the Do’s!

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This is a great depiction from the University of Iowa of what speech sounds are like with different degrees of hearing loss.

“Serve and return” is the back and forth communication between a baby and their parent or caregiver. These early communicative interactions go back and forth like a volleyball game. The baby may “serve” by cooing or vocalizing and the adult “returns” their serve by responding positively.

Did you know? These early “serve and return” interactions:

🏐 Help develop communication and social skills
🏐 Teach babies about the back and forth of conversation
🏐 Quite literally build a baby’s brain!
🏐 Depend on positive responses from parents/caregivers
🏐 Are a great way to support early language development in deaf and hard of hearing infants

Full citation: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University. (2007). The Science of Early Childhood Development (InBrief). Retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu

Reading is FUNdamental! Join us for our first annual Hear to Read Winter Reading Challenge that begins TODAY and ends March 1.

Children and adults from across the United States may sign up. Feel free to share with family and friends! Go to https://sjid.org/read/ to find out more information, download resources and to sign up!

It’s a ✨magical✨ time of year, when we pause to celebrate the sights and sounds of the holiday season! 🎁 🎶 ❤️ 📚

The shared moments that the holiday season brings are more than just heartwarming — they’re critical to building listening, talking, and literacy skills!

👉 Follow along all month long for tips on how to make the most of this festive time with your child with hearing loss.

Get a sneak peek: https://bit.ly/47iBeSe

I missed Nation PlayDough Day but I still have to share all of these great ideas!

⭐ LSL⭐ stands for Listening and Spoken Language. It's a series of strategies and techniques to teach babies and young children with hearing loss spoken language through listening. An LSL early intervention professional will guide you on how to use this approach to make the best use of your child's hearing devices every day.

Get started with LSL: https://www.hearingfirst.org/lsl/what-is-lsl

❓Questions about LSL❓We want to hear from you! ⬇️

Great monthly resources!!

Language Calendar for June free download from The Moog Center for Deaf Education
https://www.moogcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/June-Language-Calendar-2023.pdf

When a child keeps taking off their devices they are communicating that something is not right. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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First troubleshoot- any physical signs of discomfort? Irritation from the CI coil? redness near the ear canal? Congestion/cold/flu symptoms suggesting an ear infection?

Then troubleshoot the equipment- any wax blocking the tubing? Does the device sound like it usually sounds?

If it’s the end of the day or an overwhelming listening environment it could also be listening fatigue.
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After all of these if there's still a problem then it's time to book an appointment with an audiologist. And if you've tried a few times and the audiologist is unable to fix it, get a second opinion.

Full time use (10+ hours per day) is crucial for oral speech and language development. If your child is not wearing their devices you are wasting precious time. Get the programming right early- even if it means having to advocate for yourself and your child!
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Summer fun in Tyler, TX for kids who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing!

https://tylerpaper.com/news/camp-tyler-will-offer-summer-camp-for-deaf-hard-of-hearing-students/article_2b6ac06a-d561-11ed-8998-d7533bd6c98c.html?utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR3K2c8bzsgUhnKQz9u4-qywy62tM4RwpK_0MxGdhAUMOsfRLosTXw7XJLY&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Camp Tyler will offer summer camp for deaf/hard of hearing students Not all classrooms have four walls. At least that’s the motto at Camp Tyler Outdoor School.

When is it time to start using a remote mic? As soon as a parent is willing to try!!! The earlier, the better 🤗

One of the reasons I made this account was to get this (in my opinion) very important message out to people!

One of my favorite tools - remote microphone technology!! Aka FM aka Mini Mic aka Roger - there are many names for it, but basically the parent wears a microphone and it connects wirelessly to the child’s hearing aids/BAHA/CI and they can hear you SO MUCH BETTER.

Inputting spoken language for your child is hard work- don’t you want to make sure they hear as many of those words as possible??

Remote microphones overcome distance, noise, and reverberation and yes I would even wear it while playing with a child in a “quiet” house.

Imagine if you put your cell phone in the seat of a stroller on speaker and tried to have a conversation Vs with listening with AirPods or a Bluetooth headset. With the AirPods the sound is so much more clear and takes less brain power to understand and process 🤗 you’re overcoming noise, distance, and reverberation just like you do when you use a remote microphone system!

made this awesome LMH download which I have started using as an educational audiologist at the schools. This listening check can (and should!) ideally be done at home every morning. If the child has devices for both ears first do one ear, then the other, then both ears together. Then at school it’s ideal if they can connect the remote mic system and check one more time.

What to do with this info? Let’s say you’re a parent and receive this from your Ed audiologist or Deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) teacher. What should you do next?

👉 If your child typically hears the “s” sound: do the check again at home to see what results you get. If they miss it again do a clean and check of the hearing aids and try again. Still missing it even though they usually hear it? Call your audiologist and let them know. They might need an updated hearing test to see if their hearing levels have changed.

👉If you know your child doesn’t always hear “s” - follow up with your managing audiologist and ask if they can make adjustments to the hearing aid programming to increase high frequency gain. Make sure earmolds are fitting tightly. If they’re missing more sounds and listening and spoken language is your goal, ask if it’s time for a cochlear implant evaluation if appropriately fitted hearing aids aren’t getting full access to the entire speech spectrum.

🌟 In the meantime, keep using the remote mic as often as possible as they are getting access to “s” when using it!

🌟 Reminder: A listening and spoken language outcome requires AGGRESSIVE audiologic management. There’s a lot of other factors that go into it including luck, but a daily listening check is one factor we can control. 😊

A new study from JAMA Pediatrics found that screen time in infancy can lead to a decrease in a child's attention and executive functioning.

What's executive functioning? It's all the skills necessary for school success! Things like:
- the ability to plan
- focusing and paying attention
- remembering
- multitasking

Here are THREE ways to build those skills:

(1) Serve and Return: when your baby "serves" you a smile, look, movement, or sound, "return" with a response such as a smile, laugh, or even better — by saying something. Early conversations build that brain!

(2) Turn Off and Tune In: It can be hard when life gets busy! But remember to slow down and be present and engaged with your little one. Turn off your devices and tune in to them. Notice what captures their attention and spend more time on that.

(3) Play and Have Fun: Playtime is how babies learn! Let yourself have fun with it. Play games like "I Spy" and walk around a room with your baby. Make a "treasure" box with baby-safe household items to explore. Describe each item and then let your baby see and hold it.

Read the latest research here: http://bit.ly/3YwBUP6

When you read to your child every day, you grow their brain for listening, language, and learning. Just 15 minutes a day will make a big difference!

Get cozy with a book using this list of great wintery books to read with your child: http://bit.ly/3CtF5hV

It's been a busy week in the Taylor house ;) but I didn't want to keep these awesome LSL tips from you!
So let's finish our Listening and Spoken Language Countdown to Christmas!
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy all of the Holidays we are blessed to celebrate at this time!

Thank you to Lynn A. Wood - LSL Auditory Verbal Therapist and Rehab Audiologist for creating these awesome resources for us!

A Listening and Spoken Language Countdown to Christmas 🎄

"Wearing hearing devices improves a child's language skills." Talk to your audiologist about how best to meet the needs of your family.

Books Beginning at Birth - For Texas Families The statewide provides young children from birth to age 4 and their families access to books and resources to develop early literacy skills.

All Ears! Road to Services Survey Please take a few minutes to answer the following questions so we can better reach parents/caregivers whose child(ren) are recently diagnosed with hearing loss.

Cochlear implants (CIs) go into the cochlea which is the inner ear. It’s the snail 🐌 shaped part. The hearing nerve comes from the brain into the inner ear and the implant stimulates the hearing nerve.

CI Surgery involves drilling into the mastoid bone. Reach behind your ear and touch your head. Feel that hard part? That’s your mastoid bone which is part of your skull (not your brain).

If someone does not have a cochlea then there is nowhere to put a cochlear implant. They might be eligible for an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI). An ABI uses a paddle shaped electrode implant which is placed in the brainstem (which is part of your brain). ABI surgery is brain surgery. Cochlear Implant surgery is ear surgery. Just not the part of the ear we can see. The speech processor or external part of an ABI is the same as a cochlear implant.

Is a cochlear implant surgery permanent? Well.. yes and no. The implant itself can be surgically removed- so is that permanent? .bionic_bean had a good analogy and said a cochlear implant is more of a marriage than a tattoo. I said a tattoo leaves a scar when you remove it (a CI also leaves some scarring in the cochlea when you remove it). She said so does a marriage. Touché! I don’t think there is a “right” answer for this question, more of a matter of perspective.

Surgeons are better than ever at preserving residual hearing, but hearing preservation is never guaranteed and always a potential risk of CI surgery. For many people by the time they have made the decision to get a CI there is very little hearing left to preserve, but you don’t have to be completely deaf to get a CI. If you’re curious if you’re a CI candidate you should talk to your audiologist 😊

Is CI surgery serious, life changing, and a big decision? Absolutely. Is it brain surgery? No. Is it permanent? Yes and no.

All of these things are important to discuss with your audiologist, surgeon, and CI team of course ☺️